CAPE TOWN - A 20-strong South African business delegation has arrived in Novosibirsk for the 10th Investment and Trade Initiative (ITI) to Russia.

According to a statement on Tuesday, the business delegation to the ITI is organised and funded by the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti). The objective of the mission is to increase exports of agro-processing and clothing and textile products, as well as the built environment and capital equipment goods and services to the Russian market.

Global Sales Director of the Bridge of Hope Wines Mojalefa Mosia said he is in Russia as part of his company’s efforts to expand their export market in Russia as they are already exporting to Moscow.

“The mission has provided us with a perfect opportunity to find a market for our wines in Novosibirsk as we always wanted to export to other parts of Russia. We are confident that we will be able to successfully find a distributor or buyer that we can start doing business with in order for our wines to be sold in this part of Russia and other areas. This will enable us to grow our market,” said Mosia.

According to the dti statement, Mosia’s Western Cape-based company is already exporting to Belgium, Kenya, Angola and the United Arab Emirates.

The Managing Director of the KwaZulu-Natal based company, Thulanda Consultants, Benson Mseleku, said his mission is to find Russian companies that he can partner with for engineering projects in South Africa.

“We are an engineering company that is involved in project management and design services to the mining, water and sanitation industries, as well as energy infrastructure development. We are hopeful that we will be able to find Russian companies that can be interested in partnering with us in our projects back home,” said Mseleku.

Kama Industries’ Grant Rossouw said he will use the opportunity to enter the Russian industrial market in order to supply his Gauteng company’s capital equipment products to the country’s mining industry.

“We are already working with a company in St Petersburg on a small scale and now we would like to expand the market for our products by finding buyers in Novosibirsk. Our products are doing well in Australia and Chile and we are on a mission to make inroads in the Russian market,” concluded Rossouw.